I’ve started to post this video several times but it’s been hard for me to get past the stupidity. The broseph you see in this video decided he would use a photographer’s images that he “found on Google . . . freely available” in his Shopify “business.” The problem, however, is that he didn’t get a license or permission from the photographer.

The photographer then sued the thief with evidence supporting his slam-dunk case. Moron rightly decides to settle the case for $27,000 plus $10,000 in court costs and attorney’s fees.

His defense is a maddening riddle:

“There are malicious people who put copyrighted images all over the internet without letting clearly know that they’re copyrighted. And then these same people search for the instances of images used and sue people. They work in groups, that’s their business model.”

I can’t do much more than throw my hands up at this. While I’ve heard the “freely available on Google” schtick many times before, it’s still shocking to hear the defiance in this guy’s rant. And he still doesn’t get it after paying out $37,000.

It’s been quite some time since I reported an update in Canon USA’s attack on gray market retailers. A few things have happened since then, including the dismissal of Canon’s case against the ebay seller Get It Digital.

If you aren’t up to speed on the Canon USA v. Gray Market Retailer cases, check out the primer here, which includes a list of links to all the subsequent updates.

Now, before we all get too happy about Canon’s case against “Get It Digital” being dismissed and the free-flow of cheaper gray market cameras in the US, let’s read between the lines for a better idea of what really happened. [Read more…]

In the video above, a guy passing by a photographer on a photo shoot freaks out over their presence on what he refers to as his driveway. For his part, the photographer kept his cool and tried to diffuse the confrontation but the guy keeps freaking out and nearly strikes the photographer and crew with his truck.

However, this isn’t the first time a camera manufacturer has gone after a retailer selling gray market cameras on ebay. In fact, I recently discovered that F & E Trading has been sued under very similar circumstances before. The outcome of that lawsuit could foreshadow what is the beginning of the end for gray market cameras in the US. [Read more…]

Drones are literally everywhere. As I drove through my neighborhood a few days ago, I saw a teenager flying what looked to be a DJI Phantom in his front yard and just a couple dozen feet from my car as I passed by. Drones have gone from a very niche and expensive hobby interest toward a mainstream consumer and commercial success. And it’s only just begun.

The storylines continue to focus on the FAA’s regulations and the public’s restrictions as the technology is far out-pacing the legal and regulatory guidelines. While there is a loose framework for registration in place for the general public and their personal use of drones, legitimate technological restrictions are hardly competent to keep a drone from either accidentally or intentionally causing a major catastrophe.

As it stands now, we are still living in the wild west of the drone tech boom. Just about anyone can fly a drone just about anywhere – regardless of whether there are regulatory restrictions in place or not. The FAA is woefully undermanned to address all of the reported violations and local law enforcement remains untrained on the regulations and/or completely lack jurisdiction to enforce those regulations.

For years, we’ve been talking about deals on gray market cameras and we’ve now encountered some controversy among at least one major camera company and retailers offering gray market cameras for sale to consumers. So, I figured it was time to get more specific about what the term gray market means to us all as consumers. Specifically, I’ll be focusing on US consumers since that is the law with which I am familiar.

Additionally, this article will be updated on an ongoing basis with links out to the latest news on the Canon v. Gray Market Retailers series that I have been covering. If and when other manufacturers and retailers join in the controversy, that coverage will be referenced here as well. You can scroll to the bottom of this article for a timeline and links to those specific updates. [Read more…]

Canon USA filed a pair of lawsuits in October against Get It Digital, LLC and several other widely-known gray market retailers in a effort to force them to stop selling gray market Canon cameras and other products in the United States.

I obtained copies of the complaints and exhibits late last week and have reviewed the allegations made and evidence cited within. [Read more…]